Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex

Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex The Grave Creek Mound is one of the largest Woodland Period burial mounds in the world.

The Grave Creek Mound is one of the largest Adena burial mounds in the United States. Our museum is also home to West Virginia's archaeology curation facility.

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!🪓 This week’s artifacts are three prehistoric Indigenous greenstone ce...
05/27/2026

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!

🪓 This week’s artifacts are three prehistoric Indigenous greenstone celts from the Moundsville area. Used primarily for felling trees and cutting wood, celts are versatile tools with a beveled cutting edge and blunt poll. Unlike prehistoric hafted axes, celts were inserted into a socketed wooden handle.

🕰️ First introduced in North America during the Archaic Period, celts supplanted axes in the Woodland Period (1000 BCE–CE 1200). They are often recovered on Adena and Hopewell sites.

🔔 PLEASE NOTICE: We will be CLOSED on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 and will reopen with normal house on Wednesday, May 13, 2026...
05/06/2026

🔔 PLEASE NOTICE: We will be CLOSED on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 and will reopen with normal house on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!📚 The artifact is a miniature refillable glass bottle that travelers p...
05/06/2026

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!

📚 The artifact is a miniature refillable glass bottle that travelers probably carried perfume or cologne in while traveling. Shepherd University field school students excavated the bottle at the historic Entler Hotel (now Rumsey Hall) in Shepherdstown.

🔎 This teensy-weensy bottle—probably the smallest in our collection—only measures 1.57 inches high and contains a capacity of just .10 ounces. Two faint, vertical seams indicate that it was handblown in a two-piece mold before attachment of the finished lip. This manufacturing process was common during the second half of the nineteenth century until the early twentieth century—a period which coincides with the operation of the Entler Hotel (ca. 1790–1917).

📣 Did you know that your school group can visit and tour Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex?📚 The education and in...
04/30/2026

📣 Did you know that your school group can visit and tour Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex?

📚 The education and interpretive staff at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex provide scheduled tours for school groups. The experience provides an introduction to the material culture evidence of Indigenous People in West Virginia, as well as historic sites.

📲 For more info, contact Kate Arbogast at 304-843-4128, [email protected], or visit wvculture.org/explore/grave-creek-mound

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!🪨 The artifact is a quartzite chopper recovered at 46SU52, a prehistor...
04/16/2026

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the Week!

🪨 The artifact is a quartzite chopper recovered at 46SU52, a prehistoric seasonal camp located on a terrace in Summers County overlooking Bluestone Lake. Choppers are hand-held tools used for processing game, chopping meat and extracting nutrient-rich marrow. Due to their versatility, choppers could also easily cut plants and wood. Most choppers were made from durable cobbles which were treated with heat and flaked to create a cutting edge while leaving the smooth exterior of the stone as a gripping surface. The functionalism and ease of manufacturing choppers made them an essential implement in the lithic toolkits of precontact indigenous peoples.

📣 Did you know that your school group can visit and tour Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex?📚 The education and in...
04/08/2026

📣 Did you know that your school group can visit and tour Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex?

📚 The education and interpretive staff at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex provide scheduled tours for school groups. The experience provides an introduction to the material culture evidence of Indigenous People in West Virginia, as well as historic sites.

🏺 Activities and tour options include pottery-making, visits to the interpretive garden, petroglyph-making, archaeology lab and more!

📲 For more info, contact Kate Arbogast at 304-843-4128, [email protected], or visit wvculture.org/explore/grave-creek-mound

Thanks for joining us at Fossil Day in March! 👏🦕 Stay tuned for more exciting events and info from Grave Creek Mound Arc...
04/06/2026

Thanks for joining us at Fossil Day in March! 👏🦕 Stay tuned for more exciting events and info from Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. 📲

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the week!🐦‍⬛The artifact is a mandible (lower beak) from a common raven (Corvus...
04/02/2026

📣 We're excited to share our Artifact of the week!

🐦‍⬛The artifact is a mandible (lower beak) from a common raven (Corvus corax) excavated at Roseberry Farm (46MS53) in Mason County. Located near Point Pleasant, Roseberry Farm is an early Fort Ancient palisaded village occupied at various times during CE 1100-1300.

🔎The recovery of a raven bone is unsurprising as many Indigenous cultures perceive ravens as magical, shapeshifting tricksters that frequently played a prominent role in creation stories. Birds of prey like the raven were common in Adena and Hopewell art and probably held a significant role in ceremonies associated with death and burial.

📣 The Marshall County Student Art Show is now open!🖼️ Our activity room has been transformed into a vibrant art gallery ...
03/17/2026

📣 The Marshall County Student Art Show is now open!

🖼️ Our activity room has been transformed into a vibrant art gallery showcasing drawings, watercolors/paintings and ceramic pieces. The artists are students from local elementary, middle and high schools. Retired art teachers and the public award the ribbons, while the public votes on the "People's Choice" winners.

🗓️ The Art Show will be open and on display during the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex's hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Viewing will end on March 31st.

Address

801 Jefferson Avenue
Moundsville, WV
26041

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

(304) 843-4128

Website

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